This tool was a program for making newsletters. I would use it to inform the parents what we are working on in the reading classroom. This way they can have a brief overview of the topic and work on it with their children at home. It could also be used by the students. They could create a newsletter, this would work on their writing skills. It could be as a book review or on a subject they are currently learning about. However, I was not impressed with the setup and use of this tool. When typing in the designated text box areas there was nothing that showed how much space was left. You would then have to go back and highlight everything from the bottom and keep switching the font size and/or style until it fit. Sometimes, you would have to take out information because it would not fit. This version was just the free trial version. If you pay for a subscription I do not know if the setup becomes easier to use but you are able to make more newsletters and have more pictures on your accounts. However, old items could be deleted, so you could keep making new ones. The site allowed 25 of each item. It took me awhile to figure out how to add the pictures. They had to be previously uploaded and added from a different tab on the screen, not in the newsletter maker itself. However, I could not get any pictures to upload to the site. They had to be saved as a JPG which my computer would not allow for pictures to be saved as. To use this tool you must first create an account which was very simple. You then find a template that you would like to use. Type your information into the text boxes and change the font style, size and color if you would like. Add pictures if it allows you to, that you have previously uploaded. Click save then publish and click make public if you would others to be able to view. The short demonstration video that is provided on the website has a different setup then I actually received when working on the letter. The one in the video looked much more user friendly. If you have chosen to make your letter public no password should be needed for others to access it. Overall, I thought this website was a good idea but very difficult to use. However, I find just making a newsletter in a word document to much more easier and faster, since templates are also provided there. The only plus to this is they could be immediately accessed online and word would not be needed. However, the word newsletters could be made available on your class website. When creating a newsletter I would not choose this site again.
The Growing Garden
Letter Pop
WEB 2.0 REVIEW
This tool was a program for making newsletters. I would use it to inform the parents what we are working on in the reading classroom. This way they can have a brief overview of the topic and work on it with their children at home. It could also be used by the students. They could create a newsletter, this would work on their writing skills. It could be as a book review or on a subject they are currently learning about. However, I was not impressed with the setup and use of this tool. When typing in the designated text box areas there was nothing that showed how much space was left. You would then have to go back and highlight everything from the bottom and keep switching the font size and/or style until it fit. Sometimes, you would have to take out information because it would not fit. This version was just the free trial version. If you pay for a subscription I do not know if the setup becomes easier to use but you are able to make more newsletters and have more pictures on your accounts. However, old items could be deleted, so you could keep making new ones. The site allowed 25 of each item. It took me awhile to figure out how to add the pictures. They had to be previously uploaded and added from a different tab on the screen, not in the newsletter maker itself. However, I could not get any pictures to upload to the site. They had to be saved as a JPG which my computer would not allow for pictures to be saved as.
To use this tool you must first create an account which was very simple. You then find a template that you would like to use. Type your information into the text boxes and change the font style, size and color if you would like. Add pictures if it allows you to, that you have previously uploaded. Click save then publish and click make public if you would others to be able to view. The short demonstration video that is provided on the website has a different setup then I actually received when working on the letter. The one in the video looked much more user friendly. If you have chosen to make your letter public no password should be needed for others to access it.
Overall, I thought this website was a good idea but very difficult to use. However, I find just making a newsletter in a word document to much more easier and faster, since templates are also provided there. The only plus to this is they could be immediately accessed online and word would not be needed. However, the word newsletters could be made available on your class website. When creating a newsletter I would not choose this site again.